The Wisdom of Insecurity

The Wisdom of Insecurity is a self-help classic that breaks down our psychological need for stability and explains how it’s led us right into consumerism, why that won’t solve our problem and how we can really calm our anxiety.

If you asked Americans what their religion was in 1948, more than 9 out of 10 would’ve told you they’re Christians. Today, almost 20% of them openly admit to having no religion, meaning they’ve either left church or are just not religious at all.

This reversing trend of religiousness started as early as the 1920s, when the Industrial Revolution brought wealth and prosperity to the US. As communication technology and science were on the rise, mythical stories and promises of a wonderful afterlife lost their touch – but also their positive impact.

While not being all sunshine and rainbows, the strong and indoctrinated morals and beliefs of religion gave people a sense of comfort and fulfillment. Knowing you’re working towards an afterlife in paradise is reassuring and lets you put up with a lot pain.

Once you stop believing in that, there’s a gap you have to fill in order to make sense of all the suffering in life. You start asking yourself: “Where is the reward that makes enduring all this worthwhile? Why should I put up with all this shit?”

Of course there are no easy answers to such big, existential questions – you can’t find them overnight. What you can find overnight though, are things like alcohol, TV and a new handbag.

Enter consumerism. Yes, you could spend your Saturday pondering why you didn’t get the promotion, what else you could do with your career and work out a life plan. Oooooor, you can go shopping, eat steak for dinner and then to a club! That sounds like a lot more fun. Let’s do that! But…those things cost money. Ugh! But maybe if you put your head down, work hard and impress your boss, you’ll get the promotion next time, and then you can buy even nicer clothes, eat even fancier dinners and go to even more expensive clubs! In the meantime, why not just get some credit to pay for all this stuff? Hold on, hold on – do you see what’s happening here? This is exactly the way we talk ourselves into getting on the hedonic treadmill – that is doing things you don’t like, to buy things you don’t need, to go on living, to keep doing things you don’t like. It’s stupid! This chase for happiness will never be over. It’s just what society’s trying to sell you, because it still hasn’t managed to come up with a better way of giving you true…